highly threatened by the lawsuit: he knew that he was unlikely ever to earn money
from his scholarly pursuits and had always fiercely guarded the capital inherited
from his father. When his money was imperiled he became, in the words of his
publisher, «a chained dog.»
Certain that Caroline Marquet was an opportunistic malingerer, he fought
her lawsuit with all his might, employing every possible legal appeal. The bitter
court proceedings continued for the next six years before the court ruled against
him and ordered him to pay Caroline Marquet sixty talers a year for as long as her
injury persisted. (In that era a house servant or cook would have been paid twenty
talers annually plus food and board.) Arthur`s prediction that she was shrewd
enough to tremble as long as the money rolled in proved accurate; he continued to
pay for her support until she died twenty–six years later. When he was sent a copy
of her death certificate he scrawled across it: «Obit anus, abit onus» (the old
woman dies, the burden is lifted).
And other women in Arthur`s life? Arthur never married but was far from
chaste: for the first half of his life he was highly sexually active, perhaps even
sexually driven. When Anthime, his childhood friend from Le Havre, visited
Hamburg during Arthur`s apprenticeship, the two young men spent their evenings
searching for amorous adventures, always with women from lower social strata—
maids, actresses, chorus girls. If they were unsuccessful in their search, they
ended their evening by consoling themselves in the arms of an «industrious
whore.»
Arthur, lacking in tact, charm, and joie de vivre, was an inept seducer and
needed much advice from Anthime. His many rejections ultimately caused him to
link sexual desire with humiliation. He hated being dominated by the sexual drive
and in subsequent years had much to say about the degradation of sinking to
animalistic life. It was not that Arthur didn`t want women; he was clear about
that: «I was very fond of them—if only they would have had me.»
The saddest of love stories in the Schopenhauer chronicles took place when
he was forty–three and attempted to court Flora Weiss, a beautiful seventeen–year–old girl. One evening at a boating party he approached Flora with a bunch of
grapes and informed her of his attraction to her and his intention of speaking to
her parents about marriage. Later, Flora`s father was taken aback by
Schopenhauer`s proposal and responded, «But she is a mere child.» Ultimately, he
agreed to leave the decision to Flora. The business came to an end when Flora
made it clear to all concerned that she vehemently disliked Schopenhauer.
Decades later, Flora Weiss`s niece questioned her aunt about that encounter
with the famous philosopher and, in her diary, quoted her aunt as saying, «Oh,
leave me in peace about this old Schopenhauer.» When pressed for more
information, Flora Weiss described Arthur`s gift of the grapes and said, «But I
didn`t want them, you see. I felt revolted because old Schopenhauer had touched
them. And so I let them slide, quite gently, into the water behind me.»
There is no evidence that Arthur ever had a love affair with a woman whom
he respected. His sister, Adele, after receiving a letter in which Arthur reported
«two love affairs without love,” responded, in one of their few interchanges about
his personal life, «May you not totally lose the ability to esteem a woman while
dealing with the common and base ones of our sex and may Heaven one day lead
you to a woman to whom you can feel something deeper than these infatuations.»
At thirty–three Arthur entered into an intermittent ten–year liaison with a
young Berlin chorus girl named Caroline Richter–Medon, who often carried on
affairs with several men simultaneously. Arthur had no objections to that
arrangement and said, «For a woman, limitation to one man during the short time
of her flowering is an unnatural state. She is expected to save for one what he
cannot use and what many others desire from her.» He was opposed to monogamy
for men as well: «Man at one time has too much and in the long run too little....
half their lives men are whoremongers, half cuckolds.»
When Arthur moved from Berlin to Frankfurt, he offered to take Caroline
with him but not her illegitimate son, whom he insisted was not his. Caroline
refused to abandon her child, and after a short correspondence their relationship
ended for good. Even so, Arthur, almost thirty years later, at the age of seventy–one, added a codicil to his will leaving Caroline Richter–Medon five thousand
talers.
Though he often scorned women and the entire institution of matrimony,
Arthur vacillated about marriage. He cautioned himself by reflecting, «All great
poets were unhappily married and all great philosophers stayed unmarried:
Democritus, Descartes, Plato, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Kant. The only exception
was Socrates—and he had to pay for it, for his wife was the shrewish
Xanthippe.... most men are tempted by the outward appearance of women, that
hides their vices. They marry young and pay a high price when they get older for
their wives become hysterical and stubborn.»
As he aged he gradually relinquished the hope of marriage and gave up the
idea completely at the age of forty. To marry at a late age, he said, was
comparable to a man traveling three–fourths of the journey by foot and then
deciding to buy the costly ticket for the whole journey.
All of life`s most fundamental issues come under Schopenhauer`s bold
philosophical scrutiny, and sexual passion, a topic avoided by his philosophic
predecessors, was no exception.
He launched this discussion with an extraordinary statement about the
power and omnipresence of the sexual drive.
Next to the love of life it [sex] shows itself here as the strongest and most
active of all motives, and incessantly lays claim to half the powers and
thoughts of the younger portion of mankind. It is the ultimate goal of almost
all human effort. It has an unfavorable influence on the most important affairs,
interrupts every hour the most serious occupations, and sometimes perplexes
for a while the greatest human minds.... Sex is really the invisible point of all
action and conduct, and peeps up everywhere in spite of all the veils thrown
over it. It is the cause of war and the aim and object of peace,...the
inexhaustible source of wit, the key to all allusions, and the meaning of all
mysterious hints, of all unspoken offers and all stolen glances; it is the
meditation of the young and often the old as well, the hourly thought of the
unchaste and, even against their will, the constantly recurring imagination of
the chaste.
The ultimate goal of almost all human effort? The invisible point of all
action and conduct? The cause of war and the aim and object of peace? Why so
overstated? How much does he draw from his own personal sexual
preoccupation? Or is his hyperbole simply a device to rivet the reader`s attention
on what is to follow?
If we consider all this, we are induced to exclaim: why all the noise and fuss?
Why all the urgency, uproar, anguish and exertion? It is merely a question of
every Jack finding his Jill. Why should such a trifle play such an important
role, and constantly introduce disturbance and confusion in the life of man?
Arthur`s answer to his question anticipates by 150 years much of what is to
follow in the fields of evolutionary psychology and psychoanalysis. He states that
what is really guiding us is notour need butthe need of our species. «The true end
of the whole love story, though the parties concerned are unaware of it, is that a
particular child may be begotten,” he continues. «Therefore what here guides man
is really an instinct directed to what is best in the species, whereas man himself
imagines he is seeking merely a heightening of his own pleasure.»
He discusses in great detail the principles governing the choice of sexual
partner («everyone loves what they lack») but repeatedly emphasizes that the
choice is actually being made by the genius of the species. «The man is taken
possession of by the spirit of the species, is now ruled by it, and no longer belongs
to himself...for ultimately he seeks not his interests but that of a third person who
has yet to come into existence.»
Repeatedly, he emphasizes that the force of sex is irresistible. «For he is
under the influence of an impulse akin to the instinct of insects, which compels
him to pursue his purposes unconditionally, in spite of all the arguments of his
faculty of reason.... He cannot give it up.» And reason has little to do with it.
Often the individual desires someone whom reason tells him to avoid, but the
voice of reason is impotent against the force of sexual passion. He cites the Latin
dramatist Terence: «What is not endowed with reason cannot possibly be ruled
with reason.»
It has often been noted that three major revolutions in thought have
threatened the idea of human centrality. First, Copernicus demonstrated that Earth
was not the center about which all celestial bodies revolved. Next, Darwin
showed us that we were not central in the chain of life but, like all other creatures,
had evolved from other life–forms. Third, Freud demonstrated that we are not
masters in our own house—that much of our behavior is governed by forces
outside of our consciousness. There is no doubt that Freud`s unacknowledged co–revolutionary was Arthur Schopenhauer, who, long before Freud`s birth, had
posited that we are governed by deep biological forces and then delude ourselves
into thinking that we consciously choose our activities.
_________________________
IfI maintain silence
about my secret it is my
prisoner; if I let it
slip from my tongue, I am
its prisoner. On the tree
of silence hang the
fruits of peace.
_________________________
Bonnie`s concern about the group proved unfounded: at the next meeting
everyone was not only present but early—except for Philip, who strode in briskly
and took his seat at exactly four–thirty.
A short silence at the beginning of a group therapy session is not unusual.
Members learn quickly not to open the meeting capriciously because the first
speaker is generally fated to receive much time and attention. But Philip,
graceless as ever, did not wait. Avoiding eye contact, he began speaking in his
unemotional, disembodied voice.
«The account given by our returning member last week—”
«Name of Pam,” interrupted Tony.
Philip nodded without looking up. «Pam`s description of my list was
incomplete. It was more than a simple list of the women with whom I had sex that
month; it contained not only names but phone numbers—”
Pam interrupted, «Oh. Phone numbers! Oh, well then, excuse me—that
makes it all okay!»
Undeterred, Philip continued, «The list also contained a brief description of
the lovemaking preferences of each woman.»
«Lovemaking preferences?» asked Tony.
«Yes, what each woman preferred in the sexual act. Such as, likes it from
the rear...sixty–nine...long foreplay required...begin with lengthy back
massage...massage oil...gets off on spanking...breast sucking...likes
handcuffs...tied to bedposts a big turn–on.»
Julius winced. Good God! Where was Philip going—was he heading in the
direction of revealing Pam`s preferences? Big trouble ahead.
Before he could head Philip off, Pam shot out, «You are truly disgusting.
Repulsive.» Pam leaned forward as if preparing to rise from her chair and leave.
Bonnie put her hand on Pam`s arm to detain her and said to Philip, «I`m
with Pam on this one. Philip, are you crazy? Why on earth would you brag about
those things?»
«Yeah,” said Gill, «I just don`t get you. Look, here you are under blistering
attack—I mean I`m wincing for you, man. I could not face what you`re facing.
But what do you do? You throw gasoline on the fire and you say,вЂBurn me some
more.` No offense, Philip, but, shit, how can you do that?»
«Yeah, that`s what I see too,” said Stuart. «If I were in your situation, I`d
want to put myself in the best possible light—not give the enemy more
ammunition.»
Julius tried to soothe the waters. «Philip, what have you been feeling the
last few minutes?»
«Well, I had something important to say about that list and I said it—so
naturally I feel entirely satisfied with the course of events.»
Julius persevered. In his most gentle voice, he said, «Several people
responded to you, Philip. What are you feeling about that?»
«That`s where I don`t go, Julius. That way lies despair. Better, far better,
for me to keep my own counsel.»
Julius pulled out another device from his grab bag—that venerable but
reliable strategy of conditional voice. «Philip, try a thought experiment.
Philosophers do that everyday. I understand your wish to retain your equanimity,
but humor me for a moment and try to imagine thatyou were going to have
feelings about others` responses today. What might they be? ”
Philip considered Julius`s question, smiled slightly, and nodded his head,
perhaps as a token of admiration for the ingenuity of Julius`s ploy.
«An experiment? Fair enough. If Iwere to have had feelings, I would have
felt frightened by the ferocity of Pam`s interruption. I am not unaware that she
wishes to do me grievous harm.»
Pam started to interject, but Julius immediately signaled her to be silent and
allow Philip to continue.
«Then Bonnie inquired about the point of my bragging, and then Gill and
Stuart asked about why I was attempting to immolate myself.»
«Immo what?» asked Tony.
Pam opened her mouth to respond, but Philip instantaneously said,
«Immolate—to sacrifice oneself by fire.»
«Okay, you`re partway there,” Julius persisted. «You`ve accurately
described what happened—what Bonnie, Gill, and Stuart said. Now try to
continue with the experiment—if you were going to have feelings about their
comments.»
«Right, I`ve gotten off track. No doubt you would conclude my
unconscious is making an appearance.»
Julius nodded. «Go on, Philip.»
«I would feel entirely misunderstood. I would say to Pam, вЂI wasn`t trying
to make it okay.` To Bonnie, I`d say, вЂBragging was the last thing in my mind.`
To Gill and Stuart, I`d say, вЂThank you for the warning, but I was not attempting
to injure myself.`”
«Okay, now we know what youweren`t doing. So tell us what youwere
doing? I`m bewildered,” said Bonnie.
